After the United Nations General Assembly meeting in 2013, November 2nd was approved as the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists.
Not only in today’s modern life is awareness and the desire to know more considered a very important indicator in all matters, but in the foundations of Alavi Islam and the teachings of the Ahl al-Bayt (peace be upon them) citizens also have the right to information, and subsequently, the right to critique.
Without awareness of his surroundings and his past, present and future, man of the modern age is as if he was blind and deaf left alone without company in an arid land.
So, if journalists and media associates do not have the necessary freedom and security, and are constantly threatened, intimidated, killed, imprisoned, and forced out of jobs, they cannot perform their duties well, and the process of informing is disturbed. Consequently, citizens will not have the necessary knowledge to make the right choice and act as responsible citizens.
Most of the Arab and Islamic countries in the Middle East and North Africa stand at the top of the list of countries where the ruling systems are considered to be obstacles to the freedom and security of journalists.
The index of freedom and security of journalists, and in other words, the issue of ending prosecution and exempting journalists from punishment, is considered one of the important indicators of political and social development of developing societies.
When journalists and media associates act more freely and with more security and comfort in criticizing the ruling political systems, they will prevent the growth of corruption in that country.
Also, the governments will institutionalize the process of reform and criticism from within by practicing tolerance to criticism, which will prevent social crises resulting from the explosion of protests and the occurrence of violence and destruction of infrastructure and riots.
